Man who spent 12 years behind bars after being wrongfully convicted of murder is awarded $1 million

A description of the attacker had wrongly implicated him in the crime

Adam Braseel, from Grundy County, Tennessee, was sentenced to life in prison in November 2007 for the killing of 60-year-old Malcom Burrows on January 7, 2006.

Almost 12 years later though, on August 2, 2019, the former UPS worker's conviction was proven wrong and he was exonerated by Governor Bill Lee.

Braseel had always maintained his innocence, and after his exoneration the Tennessee Innocence Project (TIP) called for him to receive compensation for the time he spent in jail for a crime he didn't commit.

The group advocates that "any exonerated or pardoned person is entitled to a total of $1,000,000 for the entirety of a wrongful incarceration."

And on June 23, Tennessee's Board of Claims voted to award the now 39-year-old $1 million.

Speaking after the decision, Braseel told Local 3: "According to the law and the State of Tennessee, they gave me all they possibly could."

Along with the murder of Burrows, Braseel had been charged with robbery and the aggravated assault of Burrows' sister Becky Hill and her son Kirk Braden.

Braseel was named a suspect the day after the attack based on a photo lineup and a description of the attacker as a "thin man with red hair who drove away in a gold-colored car."

But he had been on a weekend away with friends at the time of the murder.

As part of his plea deal to be released in 2019, Braseel pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault in best interest. This means he does not admit guilt, only that the plea is in his best interest.

Speaking after he was released, he said: "I feel great, I'm free.

"I hugged my mama, I hugged my sister, and then we went and got a hamburger."

In November last year, a man was awarded $45 million (£37m) in a settlement after he was falsely sentenced to 56 years behind bars for the wrongful conviction of kidnapping and raping three women.

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